Told You I would be Fine!

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette sighed softly and shifted Nicolas in her arms as she carried the fussy baby through the fairly busy streets of Brightstone, earlier today she had spent some time at home with Damianos until he grew grouchy and she put him down for a nap so she could spend some time with Nicolas too. Only her ideas of spending time with him involved her getting some fresh air and taking the baby out into the wide public for the first time, he looked a little overwhelmed by all the people and was starting to get extremely fidgety and whiny. "Oh baby it's okay." Nicolette softly kissed the top of his head which was covered with soft light blonde hair, she figured it would be a good time to sit down somewhere and see if he was hungry or anything. Being around Eight months old he was starting eat more than just milk so it was always fun trying to get him to eat new things or at least the faces he made while he ate them.

Sitting down at a random ice cream shop she pushed some of her wavy honey blonde hair away form her face and ordered some Vanilla ice cream, hoping that she could convince Nicolas to possibly try some. Now that she was home she was making her best attempt ever to be with her family as much as she could between Death Eater business and occasional healing needs that were becoming more and more frequent. Nicolette spent time with all the children and even wrote to Kaleb while he was at school to let him know she wanted to hang out with him some too once the Holiday break came around. "Teehee, you actually like this stuff?" Nicolette was amazed that the baby hadn't spit out the very small spoonful she had given him, his twin refused to eat pretty much anything with sugar in it so she figured he was going to be just like his dad. Giving Nicolas another small spoonful she set down the spoon and let her golden eyes glance around the crowd of people walking through Brightstone. Oh how she missed being in New Zealand, there was only one person she had yet to have contact with in the family and she was starting to wonder if she should write her and ask to meet up sometime.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia decided that she needed a break from all of the books. It was almost the Holidays and she wouldn't actually be doing exams this semester, something that pleased her no end. So taking advantage of the good weather Patricia put on some loose clothes and made her way into Brightstone. As per usual everyone seemed to be out from the school, and why not? the weather was perfect, so much better than being cooped up in the school. As she walked around the Village she stuffed her hands in her shorts pockets trying to sort out everything that was going on in her head. By no means had this year started off as bad as last year had, and for that she was glad, but of course the year hadn't gone without it's own problems. The problem she had in her mind was the fact that Niccy had left home. Sure Patricia knew her step-mum was fine and save as she had been in contact with her but the letters had stopped recently and Patricia didn't know where her plan with Hades stood and she hadn't been in contact with Hades to ask either.

Sighing softly she figured she needed to stop and think about this more. Entering an ice crem shop Patricia ordered herself a small tub of Strawberry ice cream. Giving the person over her money she looked around the shop to see if there was any empty spaces, and of course the place was full. Rolling her eyes Patricia turned to leave the shop hoping to find somewhere to sit and eat her ice cream in peace. As she extended her hand to open the door she stopped herself, turning on her heels as her brain made a connection to something she at least thought she saw. Looking over the customers again her eyes landed on a mother feeding her child some ice cream. Dropping her own ice cream, not really caring about it anymore, as her hands went up to her mouth as her face lit up. Making her way as quickly as possible over to the older woman Patricia had to stopped herself from screaming in the crowded shop. Aiming to not hurt the baby in anyway Patricia threw her arms around the woman, "NICCY!" she exclaimed happily, not releasing the woman from her embrace. She was far too happy to even care right now how or why Niccy was here, she was just glad to see her again.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette was about to eat a spoonful herself of the ice cream she had ordered when Nicolas seemingly got bored of eating it himself. The moment she had lifted the spoonful of sweet smelling ice cream up she was jumped or rather latched onto by someone or something that came out of nowhere. "AHHH, I SWEAR I DIDN'T DO-oh hi Patricia!" For a moment she had panicked thinking she was in trouble for something, but relaxed when she saw it was only her Step-daughter and immediately relaxed herself a little. Nicolas however began to whine a little after being startled by both his mother and Patricia. Nicolette hugged her daughter quickly and lowering her arms so she could tend to Nicolas who she didn't want to start crying or having a fit in front of all these people she didn't know.

"What are you doing in Brightstone kiddo?" She asked gently, smiling at Patricia and patting the girls cheek and motioning for her to sit down next to her so they could talk some since it had been nearly three or four months since they had seen one another. She looked a lot older and even seemed like she was more than happy that she was here at the moment, it brought a smile to Nicolette's face, Patricia was one of those she missed the most. "Isn't your brother getting so big?" Nicolas was still really small but to Niccy it seemed like he had grown a lot, she already missed the days when they were itty bitty and she had to cradle them in her arms. Nicolas peered at Patricia oddly with his large silver eyes, he must had forgotten who she was because he looked puzzled by her appearance. Nicolette lifted him into her arms as she kissed his forehead softly and turned her attention back to Patricia, hoping she had something to say.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia couldn’t help but giggle at Niccy’s reaction, she must have startled her more than she originally thought, then again Niccy had startled her by actually being in Brightstone and Patricia not knowing about it. Patricia was surprised how cool Niccy seemed to be, was she not meant to be in Russia or something. Patricia needed to know answers and she needed to know them now! Patricia finally let go off Niccy and sat down opposite her step mum and brother. She had only seen her baby brothers once but she knew straight away that this was Nicolas, his eyes made it a dead give away and the fact he didn’t have a fit at Patricia’s presence was another deciding factor.

As Niccy talked Patricia cooed over her little brother for a while, playing with him lightly happy to see him again. “I snuck out of Hogwarts.” she said in reply to Niccy’s question with a playful tone in her voice. “Anyway what I’m doing here doesn’t matter. What are you doing here? What happened?” she asked, urgency in her voice, she really wanted to know. But she kept her voice down low not wanting to attract much attention even though the place was so busy she was sure no one would even take any notice. At Niccy’s comment about Pat’s brother she turned her attention back to the baby. “You have gotten a big boy haven’t you?” she said in a playful voice, tickling his tummy lightly. Babies were so cute!

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette's bright golden eyes blinked in a confused manner when Patricia had urgently asked her what she was doing here, wasn't it obvious what she was doing here right now? Then again it might have been misleading because she was in Russia hiding out not to long ago and suddenly wound up in New Zealand without any explanation at all. "Isn't it a little obvious what I'm doing here, eating ice cream with my baby! Now what have you been up to little miss Patricia?" She giggled and pulled Nicolas closer to her so she could wipe a little bit of the ice cream off his face with a napkin and make sure he didn't look all messy from all the ice cream he had eaten. Once his face wall clean she set the napkin down and watched with a small smile as watched Nicolas begin to laugh as he was tickled by his big sister, he loved being the center of attention.

"Well Hades came to come get me and I sure as hell wasn't staying there anymore." Nicolette shrugged and ran her hand through her babies hair as she tried to keep him calm from all the excitement that was going on around him. Glancing up at Patricia she wondered if the girl would want a better explanation or not, after all she knew the young Hufflepuff had been beyond worried about her recently. Apparently a lot of people of people had had missed her or were worried about her, and she was honestly beginning to feel a little bad that she had gone away like that without telling them anything about where she was. Nicolette figured she just needed some time to clear some things up and now that they were all taken care of she felt better than she had in years. "I must say I never thought I would be missed so much." She smiled softly and let out a cheerful giggle, since her return she had been spending an awful lot of time with her babies and her husband because of how much she missed them and realized that she needed them to live happily.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia rolled her eyes at her step mothers answer. Was she really going to play dumb with this? Sure Patricia could tell what she was doing here, it was pretty much obvious but what the Hufflepuff wanted to know was why she was in New Zealand. Throughout all of the letters one thing was clear and that was that Niccy was set on staying in Russia and not returning to New Zealand. Sure she said she would maybe return one day, but that maybe was the main word as it meant her returning could have gone either way. Patricia raised her eyebrows at her step mother as she crossed her arms over her chest, she wasn’t going to say anything about what she had been up to until she got the answer that she wanted from Niccy.

When Niccy mentioned Hades’ name Patricia dropped her arms and her smile widened once more. That brother of mine is a miracle worker Patricia thought, shaking her head to herself as she thought of the string of letters that had gone between the two of them and her father and Niccy. Although Patricia had a feeling that her and Hades’ part in the letters between the husband and wife hadn’t been made known to them yet she decided to keep quiet about the whole thing until she could make sure. Patricia couldn’t get over her relaxed Niccy was acting to all of this, just how long had she had to get used to the fact of being home again, more importantly why hadn’t she let Patricia know? The Hufflepuff was sure that Niccy knew just how worried she was about her the whole time she was in Russia. Why hadn’t she told her? Patricia put those thoughts to the side, it didn’t matter, Niccy was home and that was the main thing. ”I’m so glad your home!” Patricia exclaimed happily, her words were of course nothing but the truth. “How can you not know how much you were missed?” she asked, dumfounded that Niccy hadn’t realised how many people had missed her. Patricia did not get into a fight with Theodore Snow for nothing, but she kept that to herself knowing Niccy wouldn’t be too impressed with the fact that Patricia and Theodore had actually fought and during Herbology of all classes. “Isn’t your mummy a very silly person?” she said to Nicolas in her playful tone, laughing lightly as she did so.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette gave Patricia a pretty smile, as much as she thought Patricia would be angry for leaving like that it was warming to know that she was being forgiven for doing what she did. "I'm sorry if I made you worry." She shrugged her shoulders, hoping that she didn't cause everyone's lives to be put on halt just because she was having an issue with her personal life. Nicolette knew that the Snows, and even Kasura were all having issues during the time and she wasn't around to be able to help them like she was supposed to and she felt really bad about it. Reaching up she began to fiddle with the locket around her neck, it helped distract her from the bad thoughts she was having about herself for leaving everyone. "Well I know I'm missed now. I have barely been left alone the whole time I've been back." Nicolette released the locket and rolled her golden eyes at her own comment, everyone had seemed to like bothering now that she was home and was staying for good. On top of that a lot of people actually seemed to be happy having her back that she never would have pegged to care for her at all, it was heart warming actually.

"Your father and I worked everything out too, so I'll be at the Styx manor any time you want to visit." Nicolette stated, an obvious sly smirk rising to her lips when she thought about working everything out, she wasn't going to mention exactly all that happened while they worked everything out but all Patricia needed to know was that things were fixed. As Nicolas squealed in delight Nicolette noted how different he already was from his brother, Damianos was even able to walk now while Nicolas was still having trouble standing up most of the time. "I'm not silly, most of the time anyways." Nicolette smoothed out her babies hair and kissed his head softly, she could tell he was probably going to be getting sleepy soon so she was thankful she had brought a baby bag that had his blanket inside just in case he crashed.

 

[Patricia Styx]

As Patricia dotted over her little brother, regretting the little about of time she got to spend with him and his brother, especially while they were still in the cute little baby stage, she listened to Niccy. Lifted her head up to face her step mum she shook her head lightly, "Don't worry about it! I was just glad to know that you were safe, that's all that mattered." she said with a smile, her tone suggesting that enough had been sad on the matter. They had so much to catch up on that this precious time shouldn't be filled with apologises. Patricia laughed at Niccy's comment, this was one of the reasons Patricia loved Niccy so much, she made it sound that the attention she had been receiving sound like a bad thing. "Well it's your own fault. Next time don't run away to Russia for a few months or it'll just get worse." she said in a playful tone, not actually wanting Niccy to leave again.

When Niccy mentioned how she and her father had worked everything out, Patricia couldn't help but smile at the fact. "Huh dad isn't so bad after all." Patricia muttered to herself. She wondered if her performance after that Herbology lesson had helped in anyway at all, even though the whole thing had been sincere she knew that she had to do it to help advance her and Hades plan. "That's great. And you so know I'll be showing up during the holidays. We have so much to catch up on!" she said with a sly smile. It had become a habit now for Patricia to spend sometime at the Styx Manor during the holidays, it technically was her second home as that's where her other family lived. Albeit she had yet to call it home! "Fine! You're silly every other time." she said, sticking her tongue out playfully. "So how is everyone?" she asked, having not heard much news about the family.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette blinked before she playfully rolled her eyes, she could have figured that she was overly missed or something in in truth she sort of liked the feeling of having people care for her. It all seemed to really make up for the lack of love and care she had as a child. "I definitely won't. The only issue I have with it at all is that all the visitors haven't been able to rest all that much and I've actually been feeling a little under the weather." Sure she had come back home a little more than a month ago but Nicolette appears to have caught a cold from somewhere and was paying for her leave from home now. On top of it everyone decided now that they would all come to visit and see her, Nicolette thought it was just all silly and frankly if she could she would boot them all out of her house so she could actually sleep. When she heard Patricia mutter something; she easily caught it with her good hearing and a small snicker escaped her lips as she was very pleased to hear her Step-Daughter say this. "I tooooooold you." Nicolette poked the young Hufflepuff a few times on the arm pushing the fact that she had told her from the beginning that Kalif wasn't that bad of a guy. Sure there were times when he could be a pain in the butt, but Nicolette loved everything about him so it never mattered to her how much of a pain in the butt he was.

"Good, I expect you to spend awhile at the Styx Manor this time. Maybe if we try hard enough we can convince your dad to hang out with us too." Nicolette winked one of her eyes as they sparkled in the sunlight, she was so happy with her life right now her eyes no choice but to shine with the happiness she felt inside. Nicolette had wonderful children, an amazing husband, the most entertaining family ever, and on top of it all she was free from James and his followers forever. "Everyone's been great! Damianos has been a bit fussy though, did you know he can pretty much walk now?" Nicolette knew the family had been doing good but everything felt peaceful in the house lately, the only one being fussy at all now was little Damianos whom Nicolette felt just wanted attention like crazy. However to her amazement the other day he as actually been trying to walk on his own, he can't get far but he still manages to pull it off. "They are growing up too fast..." It made Nicolette already miss holding a little baby in her arms and cuddling with them. Down casting her eyes a little she stared at Nicolas as he played with his feet happily, soon he would be all grown up and she knew she was going to miss having a little baby around.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia grinned when Niccy said she definitely won't be running away again, it was good to know. Although her grin quickly turned into a frown as Niccy said she hadn't been feeling too well as of late. Patricia didn't like anyone close to her not feeling well, especially ones she hadn't seen in a few months. "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Niccy. Maybe the hordes of visitors will ease out soon enough." she said with a soft smile, hoping Niccy would be better by the holidays or Patricia would feel bad about staying over, then again it would be a good way to start her training as a Healer if she were to help Niccy get better.

When Niccy began to snicker and poke Patricia after her comment about her dad Patricia couldn't help but roll her eyes. Laughing and trying to push Niccy away Patricia held up her hands in a sort of defence, "OK, yes, I know you told me but I had to see it for myself first." She said, sticking her tongue out playful. "And fair enough, he has actually been acting like my dad recently. So I guess it just took me some time to see it." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

When Niccy mentioned how she expected Patricia to spend awhile at the Styx Manor. Patricia couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Do you really think Dad would be willing to hang around with us? What will all the talk about girlie stuff and whatnot." she said with a laugh. "Plus, the Styx Manor is like my second home. I spend as much time there as I do at my own home, if not more so." she said, thoughts of her and Ruki's conversation about Patricia perhaps deciding to live at the Styx Manor crossing her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. When Niccy spoke about the family Patricia nodded to show she was listening. When she mentioned that Damianos had began to walk Patricia's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow! That's amazing!" she said with a smile. Noticing how Niccy's demeanour changed at her last comment Patricia smiled fondly, "They are, but at least you still have a few years yet with them before they are up and away from home for good." she said looking on the bright side of things.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette appreciated that Patricia was finally taking time to get to know her father a little, after all that time of her just trying to get them to become closer it seems that it finally paid off and they were actually starting to as as if they were family. A small crept to her face when Pat asked about Kalif spending time with them, and that the Styx Manor was like her second home because it was just the thing she wanted to hear. After a long talk with Kalif some things had been decided but Nicolette needed to run it by Patricia first, this would be a huge step in her life and it shouldn't be forced. "I'm happy to hear that, because I have a question for you. What would you say to Kalif and I adopting you as our full daughter? You would live at the Styx Manor and we would become your...well guardians and such." Nicolette didn't feel nervous at all, but she spoke slowly so what she said could let her works sink into Patricia's head carefully. Yes Nicolette would pretty much because the young Hufflepuff's mother and would be the one to take care of her and teach her all she could before the young girl went out into the world. Niccy really though of Pat as a daughter and thought it would be easier if she lived with her and Kalif, but it was really up to her if she wanted to do or not.

"Actually.." Nicolette cast a light smile when Patricia told her that she had at least a few years before they completely grew up on her, she was thankful for that but she figured she wouldn't have to wait too long before she got to hold another little baby in her arms again. "I meant to tell you earlier...I'm pregnant again with another little brother or sister of yours." Nicolette was just barely ever a month, so it didn't show on her belly at all that she was even the slightest bit pregnant which she was thankful for, but that didn't mean she was completely free from the affects of it. She was still sick and extremely tired often, so far only the main family and Patricia knew because she had just found out a few days ago.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia stared up at Niccy as she told her that she had a question for her. Patricia was normally very curious about things like this but she was much more relaxed that usual. Why shouldn’t she be? It was a lovely day outside; the holidays were approaching; she didn’t have exams to worry about…yet; and Niccy was home – Patricia was very content. Listening to Niccy’s question Patricia’s eyes widened in mild shock. Niccy and Kalif wanted to adopt her? “When was this decided?” she asked, confused at how this just happened to come up as it was something she never heard mentioned in the past. “I mean…wow” Patricia didn’t know what to say.

She was shocked to say the least and a part of her wanted to say ‘yes.’ It had been something she had thought about before…perhaps not being adopted by them but living with them yes. Albeit, Patricia couldn’t help but get the bad feeling that she had when she thought about how her mum and other family would react to it. Things had been tough when Patricia first found out that Kalif was her dad but to get up and leave her family to live with a man that she didn’t know to be her father until last year and a woman that she had known for about the same time, it would kill them.

Actually… Patricia cast a curious eye at Niccy, this time she was curious. Sure she hadn’t given any inkling to her asking Patricia anything, but by the sound of her voice Patricia knew there was another bit of news coming. Patricia’s mouth literally dropped open when Niccy told her that she was once again pregnant. This was something that Patricia could react to instantly. Actually her first instinct was to be grossed out when she thought about Niccy and her dad but she wasn’t going to tell Niccy that. Closing her mouth again she formed a large grin. “Congratulations!” she said, her voice sincere. Patricia was sure that Niccy was estactic about it so she wasn’t going be a downer or anything. “Are you sure it’s just the one this time? No surprise seconds?” she asked in jest.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Patricia seemed a bit surprised at Nicolette's question, which she wasn't going to be blamed for because it was a very surprising question to ask someone. Settling herself more in her seat she lifted Nicolas a little so he could sit more comfortably in her lap as he was beginning to doze off, he was now leaning his head against her stomach as he tiredly began to close his eyes. "I'm sorry for springing this on you so suddenly." Nicolette pulled out a small baby blanket and covered her baby before she turned her attention back to Patricia. She truly was sorry but it was something that needed to be said because it wasn't just her that wanted it done but it was also Kalif's decision as well. If it was something she wanted to do then all they would have to do is speak to her muggle family. "It was decided a few weeks ago, if it's something you want then your father and I will speak to your mom and well...see how things go from there?" A lot of this depended on Anne's agreement to it too, if Patricia agreed Nicolette could only hope that Kalif could convince her to allow Patricia to be adopted by them and come to live at the Styx manor. It would definitely be different for the young girl too, she'd then be living with two pure blood parents who are both very into the dark arts.

Patricia seemed happy for her which was always a plus, even though the whole pregnancy process was a bit of a pain in the butt she was very excited to be having another baby. "Your father and I are pretty sure there is only one. I'm hoping it's a girl this time!" Although Nicolette would be happy no matter what it was, she wanted a little girl for some reason and couldn't hope that was what it was going to be this time. Nicolette would have put her hands on her stomach but Nicolas was currently resting on it, right now the baby was too small for her to feel anything.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia felt her head starting to spin. Sure Patricia had maybe considered moving in with Niccy and Kalif on a more permanent basis sometime but to be adopted was a completely different kettle of fish all together. Patricia listened to Niccy speak as she stared blankly at nothing in particular. "Mum won't be happy!" she said with a sigh after a few moments silence. Patricia thought about it. It was definitely appealing for a number of reasons but her mum would be heartbroken that's for sure and Patricia didn't know if she could actually do that to her. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" she asked, wanting to be 100% clear on the whole thing before she got her hopes up or anything.

Patricia couldn't believe all the news she was getting at one go. Ever since she had found out about her 'other' family, life had never really had a dull moment. On one hand it kept her on her toes with some situations. Then again on the other hand it did get really annoying sometimes. Today though, Patricia was grateful that life had thrown two situations at her, which were able to balance each other out. "A little girl would be so cute!" Patricia exclaimed with a small giggles. Babies were cute but babies girls stayed cute for most of their childhood.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Although the part about Anne not being happy worried her a little, Nicolette was picking up on the hint that Patricia was agreeing to this. A soft and pretty smile formed it's way onto her face as she showed the excitement that she was feeling inside by the thoughts of how much fun this would be. "Does that mean...your up for it too?" She used her sparkling golden eyes to stare carefully at Patricia for a straight up answer, as if she were starting her down and looking into her soul with how carefully she was keeping her gaze on the young girl. If this is what she truly wanted then Nicolette would go tell Kalif that it was good and that at anytime they could go about asking Anne if they would be allowed to adopt Patricia into the family. "Of course were sure we want to do this, we adore you silly. And you just leave the whole Mom thing up to your dad." She would have offered to talk to the woman herself but Nicolette wasn't too fond of muggles, ever since she had learned that a bunch of them killed her family for no real reason she had written off a good lot of them as nothing but trouble. Whether it was fear or anger she was unsure, but she'd rather not have to deal with them as much.

By this point Nicolas was completely out against her flat tummy, the poor baby must have had too much excitement to handle because he rarely ever slept when there was so much noise and action going on around him. "Even if it's not a girl, I'm really excited. Maybe you'll get to be around to help more this time and start learning about the baby/labor part that comes with being a Healer." Nicolette figured it would be uncomfortable for Patricia to learn this stuff but if she wanted to be a Healer she was going to need to know these things. Especially if she planned on working at St. Mungos because lots of babies were born there and pregnant woman came for check-ups as well.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia couldn't help but laugh lightly as she rolled her eyes when Niccy questioned if she was really up for it. Of course Patricia was still a bit anxious about the whole thing. Getting adopted by Niccy and her father was bigthing and leaving her family would be an even bigger thing. Despite these fears Patricia was still considering the idea so that meant something, surely. Hearing Niccy confirm that this was really something they wanted Patricia's fears eased slightly. Not having to tell her mum was something that appealed greatly to her. She wouldn't be able to get the words out for fear of hurting her mother more than she already was going to be. Taking a deep sigh she stared at Niccy and said, "Then my answer's yes!" Despite the big life change she was putting herself in for, she couldn't help but smile.

When Niccy mentioned how Patricia could learn about the baby/labour part of becoming a Healer the young Hufflepuff started to become more and more excited about the idea of moving in with Niccy and Kalif. The more Patricia thought about it the more she knew she wanted to become a Healer after Hogwarts. The idea of getting as many tips and pointers as possible from Niccy was very appealing. "That would be great!" she exclaimed.